Paper straws may not be better for the environment than plastic, study suggests | Hacker News Reader

Paper straws may not be better for the environment than plastic, study suggests

standard.co.uk

8 pointsasymmetric8 comments

Unless these "forever chemicals" (poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, per the article), can get stuck up a turtle's nose, nobody cares. Plastic straws aren't banned because they are bad for the environment, they're banned because one got stuck up a turtle's nose.

Angry agreement. The story that gets lodged in the zeitgeist matters as much or more so than the actual details of the damage or impact.

I was recently at a gift shop in a zoo. There were a ton of pro-environment signs and posters throughout. I selected a few items to purchase for my daughter then went to the cashier to pay. There they prominently displayed a large sign stating “saving the planet one bag at a time”. Nearly every item in the store they sold was plastic, wrapped in more plastic packaging.

Are we really so naive?

I’m curious why straws are demanded at the frequency they are given their single use nature

In most cases it does not seem to be related to a known disability that would require a straw

Are frequent straw users using them primarily for a prophylactic capacity? Is the amount primarily because of use in disposable cups/lids?

I just never find myself in need of a straw and it seems to be in almost all cases purely preference - in which case ending their use altogether, has no negative externalities that cannot be remedied easily.

Drinking a slushie without a straw sucks (it basically hurts).

Drinking coffee/hot chocolate with whipped cream without a straw sucks (gets all over your face).

Drinking tea with bobba without a straw sucks (crunchy).

Drinking a beverage with tons of ice cubes (think fast food) without a straw sucks (a special lid could help though).

Thanks! That makes sense

Everything fast food/drive thru needs a straw.

The rest of the usage is mostly because everywhere got rid of actual teaspoons so you could stir things into your drink.

It's quite infuriating. In Austin, for example, most restaurants used to serve 32 oz(yeah that's a big-ass glass) of unsweetened(!) iced tea with a lime wedge, and it came with a long-ass teaspoon to go with it. Now it's far smaller glasses of drinks with enormous quantities of sugar already pre-blended--sometimes you can't even find iced tea anymore.

"The researchers said the PFAS concentrations were low and, bearing in mind that most people tend to only use straws occasionally, posed a limited risk to human health."

So how low? Articles like this just seem to raise more questions than they answer.

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